Portfolio Update – Introducing Our Family Portfolio

Posted on December 24, 2016 by DividendDiplomats

For the last few years, I have reported religiously the happenings of my portfolio and every cent in dividend income I have received. Looking back, it is insane to see how fast my portfolio has grown in such a short period time and I love seeing similar growth rates in so many other people in the dividend investing community. Man is it a lot of fun! But there has been one key piece of the equation I have kept under wraps from all of you…the happening of my wife’s portfolio and the impact it is having on our “Family Dividend Income” and not just mine. So for the first time on this blog, I would like to discuss my wife’s investment portfolio and briefly discuss how I will begin reporting things differently here on our blog!

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Unexpected Positives as a Dividend Investor

Posted on November 7, 2016 by DividendDiplomats

Good morning everyone! Hope you had a great weekend and are breathing in the spices of the Fall scented candles and are walking out to the mail box to pick up a dividend check or two. Not figuratively, but that’s what sometimes happens as a dividend investor. You wake up, sign online to your account and see businesses sending you a check for the funds you have placed in the market as their source of liquidity to operate a business. These are always fun surprises or moments each and everyday as a dividend investor, but over the last few weeks, more and more surprises and unexpected positives have come from being a dividend investor.

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Bert’s Q2 2016 Goals Review

Posted on July 9, 2016 by DividendDiplomats

I know I said it in my June Dividend income article as well. But still….HOLY COW, I can’t believe the year is halfway over. This quarter will always hold a special place in my heart though considering I got married in May. Can’t believe that was a month ago too. WOW! After the quarter is over, we like to take some time here and check up on our 2016 goals to check our progress and see if we need to make any necessary adjustments on the fly. With six months remaining, there is still plenty of time to steer ourselves back onto the road if we have started wandering off.

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Banking Without Branches

Posted on June 19, 2016 by DividendDiplomats

A couple of months ago, I wrote about my desire to simplify my finances and make our lives a little easier. Method #1 was to consolidate the number of banks had accounts with and just make our banking situation easier. Despite the fact I wrote about this back in April, I saw my upcoming wedding as the golden opportunity to hit the reset button and start over in terms of banking when we would eventually consolidate our finances. Before the weeding, we banked at four branches. We made our decision and after we were married and reduced that number to one. What’s even crazier is that we dropped the idea of using a local bank with “roots,” or branches, in our community. I’ll let you in our decision to ditch a bank with a physical branch all together and take the first step towards simplifying our finances!

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Bert’s June Stock Watch List

Posted on June 16, 2016 by DividendDiplomats

Life is finally starting to settle down again now that my wedding festivities are over. I feel like I finally have the time to needed to properly analyze the stock market and find the perfect stock to buy. A few days ago, Lanny purchased more shares in Target and I must say, I’m a little jealous of the make he is making moves while I am still sitting on the sideline. That jealousy, coupled with the excitement I have following our review of other bloggers’ May dividend income figures, leaves me feeling as motivated as ever to find a great stock and invest. What stocks am I consider? Time to take a look at my June stock watch list!

Watch List

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2 Low Dividend Yield Stocks on My Watch List

Posted on April 21, 2016 by DividendDiplomats

I am getting the itch. Man oh man am I getting the investing itch. Lanny wrote about how it has been at least 30 days since he has purchased a stock… and that article was written over a month ago! Guess what, we still haven’t bought a stock since that article was published. So while the market continues to rise, I have been collecting cash patiently waiting for the right moment to strike. Q1 earnings are starting to be released and there may be a crack in the armor of a couple of low yielding companies I have been following. Let’s see which two low dividend yield stocks I have on my radar.

Watch List

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Lanny’s 2015 Portfolio Review

Posted on January 3, 2016 by DividendDiplomats

I keep a copy in PDF of my portfolio every quarter, and have a deeper dive at 12/31, but this also provides a blog’d example of where I stand, so I can always refer back on the site the historical position of my portfolio. As we have done in the prior year, this post will be a review and re-cap overall of my portfolio, the contributions, dividend going forward, dividend received, what I can analyze from the current position, etc.. It’s always fun to see what the year compiled into one snapshot of all of the hard work that goes into it. I am excited to see where it stands and what can be done going into this new year! Let’s dive on in. Continue reading →